The fall of 2014 begins the fifth season at the helm of the program for head coach Richie Rose with the VMI men’s soccer program. In his first season as the head man, he guided the Keydet squad to a strong finish of the season with a 3-3-1 record in the final seven matches, and a 3-5 Big South record, representing the best conference mark the Keydets have had since 2001 when VMI was 3-4-1 in the Southern Conference.

Previously, he served as assistant coach for the VMI squad for two seasons, assisting with recruiting, game management, and tactics.

Rose, who graduated from Lander University and was an assistant there for four years, arrived in Lexington from the Greenwood, S.C. institution. While there, the Englishman’s duties included working with the players on a daily basis in technical, tactical, and physical training, as well as assisting with video analysis of performance and the recruiting of new players both domestic and foreign.

In addition to those responsibilities at his alma mater, he served as the coach at Greenwood High School for two seasons, where he was in charge of the day to day coaching and management of players. Additionally, he spent two years as a coach educator for the South Carolina Youth Soccer Association, where he was responsible for the training and certificate achievement of coaches through the program.

Prior to assuming the majority of the roles listed above, Rose was a Head Coach of one portion of the South Carolina State Olympic Development Program. He also spent several years coaching in England, where he coached players ages 8-16 at The Middlesbrough Football Club Youth Academy and The York City Football Club Centre of Excellence. He was also a youth team player at York City during the mid-1990’s.

Rose holds his Union of European Football Associations UEFA A License Diploma, United States Soccer Federation A License, and the UEFA Youth Coaches Award. He is currently a coach educator for The Virginia Youth Soccer Association and a State Olympic Development Program coach, and earned his master’s in coaching from Ohio University in 2010 prior to the start of the Keydet season.